A Note from Nittany about Pittsburghese

Dear Readers,

It has come to my attention that some of you had a wee bit of difficulty understanding Steely-Eyed’s recent post. Since the Pittsburgh Steelers are Super Bowl bound, Steely-Eyed may have more contributions in the days leading up to the big game. So I thought it best for me to offer an explanation of Steely-Eyed’s manner of speaking and writing.

Steely-Eyed is a descendant of the great gnome tribe of Western Pennsylvania, Yinzus Gnomus. After hundreds of years of mixing with the locals, the Yinzus Gnomus have adopted the local dialect, Pittsburghese. According to the English department at Carnegie Mellon University:

Many people in Pittsburgh and western Pennsylvania think that there is a distinctive dialect of English spoken in this area, which they call "Pittsburghese." When people in this area talk about "Pittsburghese," they often mention words like "yinz," "slippy" and "nebby," sounds like the vowel in "aht" (out) or "dahntahn" (downtown), and expressions like "n’at."

The late, great Steelers announcer Myron Cope was one of the most famous purveyors of Pittsburghese. With the Super Bowl fast approaching, here are some examples of Pittsburghese sports talk.

Here are some common nouns and verbs.

And last but not least, an excellent example of Pittsburghese was left as a comment by Mrs. S's brother on this very blog:

Yoi Steely-Eyed!

After yunz get dun reddin up dahn there, come on dahntahn and i'll buy yinz an arn and a chipped ham hoagie, n'at. Just lemme know when yunz are prolly gonna be here so i can run dahn to the sahside to the jynt igl and get some pop, sketti, n'at. Gotta go, need ta worsh my gutchies.

HERE WE GO STILLERS... N'AT!

That translates to:

Hey, Steely-Eyed!

After you are done cleaning up down there, come on downtown and I'll buy you an iron (likely short for an Iron City Light, a popular local beer) and a ham (chipped ham was invented in Pittsburgh and is a local delicacy) sandwich. Just let me know when you are probably going to be here so I can run down to the Southside (a section of Pittsburgh) to the Giant Eagle (a popular local grocery chain) and get some soda pop, spaghetti, and other stuff. I gotta go, I need to wash my underwear.

I do hope that clears some things up.

1-11-09 Game thoughts from Steely-Eyed

Loving dis old school Stillers football. A running game? Awesome. A touchdown scored by a running back with a fullback escort? Beautiful. Rushing the ball to set up the pass? Incredible. The punt return for a TD wuz nice too.

Ball control offense...that's what I'm talk'n 'bout. The Black n' Gold offense done took eight minutes off the clock to start off the third quarter. What a beaut!

Speechless...an interception after lil' Sproules' big kick off return. Just what the doctor ordered.

Coach Norv looks a wee bit scary on the sideline there.

Benji can even block!

Even da lackluster punter did good with his short punt that bounced off a Bolts' head.

Let da record show, SD only done did run ONE offensive play the entire 3rd quarter.

Woodley is a beast today.

Would've like a TD at da goal line...but can't disagree with Tomlin's call to go for it on 4th and inches.

Yet anudder missed holding call against da man covering Harrison. Unbelievable.

Well alls well dat ends well. Mrs. S should be quite da happy camper for da next week. She's already looking up recipes for stuffed raven.

Big tanks to Nittany for allowing me to guest blog today.

1-11-09 Observations from Steely-Eyed

Hey there, how yinz doin'? To warm up for the Stillers game, I've been watchn' the Igles and the Gints n'at. Dis is what I think I thunk:

* The legendary Terry Bradshaw picked against the Stillers?!? Oh the gnomanity!

* With my suberb gnome lip reading ability, I saw Donovan McNabb say, "I didn't even know that intentional grounding from the endzone could result in a safety."

* So at nearly the end of the second quarter, I must point out that with the score Philadelphia 7, New York 8, provided that both teams only score a field goal, that this game could end in the second 11-10 score in NFL history. Particularly, noteworthy since today's Stillers-Bolts game is the rematch of the first such ending. Well, actually, as yinz know, the final shoulda bin 17-10 if the officials hadn't blown it n'at.

* Well, we did see 11-10 but it didn't last. The Blue Man Group outta put some points on da board before Philly puts the game beyond reach.

* Not looking good for Big Blue. Wowsers, dis far the home teams are 0-3...dat ain't a good omen for the Black n'Gold. Let's hope Ben n' da Boyz snap that trend.

* Humpf, the talk'n head on the teevee says that no game has ever ended in a final score of 23-11...historic ending after all n'at.

Depend'n on my state of mind, n'at, after the big showdown, I might post s'more...or I might not.

Go Stillers!!!!

9-21-2008 Et tu Steely-eye?

I have been hiding something from Mr. and Mrs. S for a while now and I needed to get it off my chest. Several weeks ago, I discovered something about my fellow countrymen Steely-eye and I hid it from Mr. and Mrs. S to keep them from getting upset and causing an incident. Steely-eye, who normally is a very upstanding Gnomistani citizen, hatched an idea to secretly trade places with me on my Alaskan odyssey. I don't want to reveal the source of my information as it could put them in grave danger. He planned to sneak up to me one night, drug me, steal my clothes, and bound and hide me in the basement until the trip was over. Thankfully, the plot never materialized beyond the planning stages. Even if he had been successful in switching places with me, I doubt that Mr. and Mrs. S would have been fooled...our accents are totally different!

8-16-08 Steely-Eyed Gnomanski

To thank Mr. and Mrs. S for their hospitality this weekend, Mrs. S's brother and sister-in-law presented them with a new addition to the family. Steely-Eyed Gnomanski is yet another cousin of mine from the homeland. “Steely-eyed” (which is his actual name, I have seen his drivers license) hails from the steel belt of central Gnomanistan. The region is known for the convergence of Gnomistan's three main rivers and its fanatical devotion to the local sports teams. Welcome, S.E.! I look forward to getting to know another of my fellow countrymen.